Predevelopment Funding for LMI Solar and Storage Projects: A Case Study from New York

A thorough predevelopment process for a potential solar or solar+storage project is essential to deciding whether the project can and should move forward. Predevelopment includes site identification, financial modeling, estimating equipment and installer expenses, customer outreach and enrollment, and other details about the scope of the project. This process can be expensive, and community-based organizations face numerous barriers in accessing predevelopment financing for solar or solar+storge projects to benefit low- and moderate-income (LMI) residents.

NYSERDA’s Affordable Solar and Storage Predevelopment and Technical Assistance program is successfully addressing the predevelopment challenge for LMI solar and storage projects in New York. A new case study by the Clean Energy States Alliance (CESA), Predevelopment Funding for LMI Solar and Storage Projects in New York: Collaborations between a State Energy Agency and Community-Based Organizations, profiles this program and two community-based organizations that have successfully applied and received funding through the program. This program can serve as a model for predevelopment support programs in other states.

In this CESA webinar, NYSERDA’s Christopher Rogers provided an overview of the Affordable Solar and Storage Predevelopment and Technical Assistance program. Representatives from the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) shared their experiences utilizing the program’s support.

Panelists:

• Christopher Rodgers, NYSERDA
• Emily Ng, UHAB
• Lucia Santacruz, UHAB
• Matt Ohloff, CESA

This webinar and accompanying case study are presented by the Clean Energy States Alliance as part of the Solar with Justice: Connecting States and Communities project. The Solar with Justice project aims to bring together state energy agencies (SEAs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) developing solar for environmental justice communities to create opportunities for dialogue and collaboration. This case study is the fourth of six case studies that will be published by CESA under the Solar with Justice project, highlighting models of collaboration between CBOs and SEAs on solar for environmental justice communities.

This webinar and accompanying case study are based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technologies Office Award Number DE-EE0009360.